Gas Bandit's Political Thread V: The Vampire Likes Bats

[GasBandit]

Now we are starting to call an invasion a protest. You can shoot invaders, but you shouldn’t shoot protestors.

Barack Obama says that a reprise of a financial crisis is possible if we fail to raise the debt ceiling.

The hearing began yesterday in the National Labor Relations Board complaint against Boeing.

Obama is treading the same path as FDR, repeating the same steps that turned a recession into the Great Depression.

The real winner from Monday night’s GOP debate …. CNN. Why? Because it all but ignore areas in which Obama is vulnerable and instead focused on the social wedge issues that create the kind of soundbites only helpful to the Left.

Darn that ol' biased Fox News! That's no way for a credible news medium to act! Oh.

Only three Republican candidates for president are listed on the wall of Obama’s new campaign headquarters — Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty and Jon Huntsman.

If your goal were to foster more political cronyism, reward lobbyists, entrench incumbents, and enrich the politically connected, you would have a hard time crafting a more useful piece of legislation than the Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill. How Barney Frank and Chris Dodd still have their jobs, much less aren't in jail, is a wonder for the ages.

Rep. Paul Ryan writes that the great Obama economic experiment has failed and it is time to get back to what works.

The Senate on Tuesday rejected a proposal that would have eliminated ethanol tax credits worth $5 billion a year.

Are big banks doomed to fail?

Just how big is $1 trillion? Here’s an attempt to put it in perspective, and then keep in mind that our national debt is $14.3 trillion and our unfunded liabilities top out at $62 trillion.

Government officials get away with deceit the private sector doesn’t tolerate.

National test results released yesterday, just 13% of high school seniors demonstrated a “solid” knowledge of American history.

HUD officially launched its Spanish language blog, on the same day Obama announced his Campaign to Reduce Waste, which includes shutting down hundreds of government websites that “we should consolidate or just get rid of.”

A new study has demonstrated that 80% of mosques right in this country are teaching jihad warfare and Islamic supremacism.

Hard up for money (even after raising taxes on some by two thirds), Illinois is considering of selling advertising space on its state license plates.

 

[TheBrew]

A new study has demonstrated that 80% of mosques right in this country are teaching jihad warfare and Islamic supremacism.

Because they happen to have at least one book that says it?

:lol:

I can make the same claim that a large majority of churches are teaching to kill gays and stone women.

 

[Terrik]

That's a bit facetious. Is stoning women and killing gays a big problem in majority Christian nations? Last I heard that was more of an Iranian thing.

I do find it odd every time someone brings up an Islamic issue, the first line of defense is to go and make a Christianity comparison. The truth is, there IS radicalism within the Islamic community and it does sometimes lead to violence. If there is truth to the study, then it should be a cause for slight concern. If it's full of crap, then let it be known it is full of crap.

Radicalism isn't good no matter who is teaching it.

Personally, I'd like to go to a few services myself and see the truth of it, if I had the opportunity, which is something one should do if they cared about the issue in the slightest.

 

[TheBrew]

That's a bit facetious. Is stoning women and killing gays a big problem in majority Christian nations? Last I heard that was more of an Iranian thing.

I do find it odd every time someone brings up an Islamic issue, the first line of defense is to go and make a Christianity comparison. The truth is, there IS radicalism within the Islamic community and it does sometimes lead to violence. If there is truth to the study, then it should be a cause for slight concern. If it's full of crap, then let it be known it is full of crap.

Radicalism isn't good no matter who is teaching it.

Personally, I'd like to go to a few services myself and see the truth of it, if I had the opportunity, which is something one should do if they cared about the issue in the slightest.

Is Jihad and Islamic supremacism a big problem in THIS nation? We aren't talking about Iran or similar nations here.

I do find it odd that you missed my point entirely. Did you read the link? They basis for the study was the fact that these mosques (or what have you) had at least one book that promoted Jihad. Not that they were being taught or even how that they were being taught. Many college campuses have books that advocate all of sorts of things that we as a nation don't like. Does that mean that these colleges support these bad things just because they happen to have a book on it?

The New (and Old) Testament say many things that many churches do not agree with. Should I go around saying that they must practice or agree with these things just because it is written down in a book? Or should I do the sensible thing and realize that these things aren't happening and I can make the logical conclusion that a large majority of churches don't practice some of the more archaic teachings.

Doesn't 80% set off your BS detector? That means that there are 1.28 million Jihadist Muslims in this country. I think that we would notice.

Maybe if you cared about the issue in the slightest, you would actually think it through.

 

[GasBandit]

Is Jihad and Islamic supremacism a big problem in THIS nation?

Might want to ask the Fort Hood shooter about that. Or that other guy who went vehicular jihadslaughter on a farmer's market. Or the victims of honor killings, like the Arizona man of Iraqi origin who ran over his daughter for becoming "too westernized." Or the manhattan skyline.

Which is the country where christians, or jews, or hindi, or sikhs, or buddhists are killing infidels again?

Bonus link for today: Prisons are the new recruiting grounds for jihad.

 

[TheBrew]

Wait wait wait... 9/11 was caused by American Muslims?! How did I not know this?

And you've brought up three examples, which makes up ~0.0001875% of the American Muslim population.

Yeah, I guess you can round that up to 80%, close enough.

 

[GasBandit]

Wait wait wait... 9/11 was caused by American Muslims?! How did I not know this?

And you've brought up three examples, which makes up ~0.0001875% of the American Muslim population.

Yeah, I guess you can round that up to 80%, close enough.

1) Because there absolutely are no non-american muslims in those mosques, or in america at all, right?

2) More than three examples, which is mathematically impossible to divide by the number of examples you provide without (so the internet tells me) causing some sort of reality-ending singularity.

"No matter how much smoke there is, there can never, ever be a fire." - TheBrew.

 

[sixpackshaker]

Which is the country where christians, or jews, or hindi, or sikhs, or buddhists are killing infidels again?

Former Yugoslavia, Israel, India, India, anywhere in SE Asia...

 

[Krisken]

If I provide some examples of Christian terrorist groups, does that mean that all Christians are extremists because they all follow the bible?

 

[Tress]

Might want to ask the Fort Hood shooter about that. Or that other guy who went vehicular jihadslaughter on a farmer's market. Or the victims of honor killings, like the Arizona man of Iraqi origin who ran over his daughter for becoming "too westernized." Or the manhattan skyline.

Which is the country where christians, or jews, or hindi, or sikhs, or buddhists are killing infidels again?

Bonus link for today: Prisons are the new recruiting grounds for jihad.

You also might want to ask black victims of lynching, police officers in Michigan who were targeted by the Hutaree, or the Oklahoma City skyline if there is a problem with Christian terrorists.

 

[AshburnerX]

Former Yugoslavia, Israel, India, India, anywhere in SE Asia...

Not to mention Northern Ireland, though it's much more relaxed than it used to be.

 

[SpecialKO]

Or the Lord's Resistance Army.

Of course, I also noticed that Robert Spencer wrote that article, and just didn't bother.

 

[Terrik]

I'm a little confused, who is saying all Muslims are terrorists? Secondly, whey is it so difficult to make the distinction between mosques and muslims? 80% of mosques does not equal 80% of muslims.

Thirdly, the article discusses methods of teaching and the kinds of material being presented within the mosques. It does not make the claim that the all the muslims that go to said mosques come out as suicide bombers. It warns that said information is there and can potentially cause aforementioned extremism since such material and teaching can and has led to violent extremism before.

Every school in China teaches communist thought, but not all Chinese are communists, but it still doesn't stop me from cringing every time I see a child wearing a little red tie goosestepping out to the athletic field in salute. That's why there was a small uproar in California over Confucius Institutes because citizens feared the spread of what they considered invasive, harmful propoganda.

Is it so wrong to be concerned that in some mosques that messages and teachings that might be harmful to women or teach extremism might be happening?

 

[SpecialKO]

It warns that said information is there and can potentially cause aforementioned extremism since such material and teaching can and has led to violent extremism before.

And you don't see how that's pure fear-mongering? The exact same logic can be used to say that colleges are dangerous to real Americans.

 

[Terrik]

And you don't see how that's pure fear-mongering? The exact same logic can be used to say that colleges are dangerous to real Americans.

Then I don't get it. What does one do then? If investigating extremism is fear mongering, and calling certain forms of speech extremism is politically incorrect then what's the answer? Sit on your hands? Pray that the Islamic community sorts out their own stuff, and hope for the best? I'm not being snide here, I'm asking honestly. Or is the answer that there isn't any problem and it's simply been magnified by those who hate Islam?

 

[AshburnerX]

Is it so wrong to be concerned that in some mosques that messages and teachings that might be harmful to women or teach extremism might be happening?

Do you share the same concern over Mormon churches? Their harmful practices with women may be less severe (your not likely to see a Mormon woman stoned or murdered in this day and age) but they ARE still ongoing and well documented. How about Jehovah's Witnesses?

I think the point we're all trying to make here is that yes, some Muslims are extremists, but unless your willing to cast the light of suspicion on equally valid targets in other denominations then your being more than a little unfair. Far more Christian terrorists have been successful on US soil than Muslim terrorists and their actions no less severe, but we never hear a government official suggest that maybe these cross worshiping, cannibalistic cults should be under watch as well.

 

[Terrik]

But I thought one of the biggest points was that these Islamic extremists groups were also getting funding (and funding) hostile organizations and foreign governments. Individual christian groups that commit acts are, as far as I know, not funded by foreign governments and agencies that have farther overreaching goals. Am I wrong? For example, I read this from the congressional hearing link:

I’d like to say that there have been many non-profit organizations established in the United States whose job is only to collect money and to send it, as you know – most of you know – to send it to extremists outside the United States. This is a big dilemma that is facing us here, because you don't know where the money is going, and it is more than hundreds of millions of dollars that have been sent to extremist parties in the Middle East and the Far East, as well as Afghanistan and the Caucasus now. Our sources say that many, many millions of dollars have been collected and sent. They send it under humanitarian aid, but it doesn't go to humanitarian aid. They say that it is to help the people of this country or that country, and they show on television and on their flyers that they are delivering it to help homeless people or poor people. Yes, some of it will go to homeless people and poor people but the majority, 90 per cent of it, will go into the black markets in these countries and buying weapon arsenals.

Would that not be something to be concerned about? Would it be wrong to investigate? Would that be considered fear mongering? At what point would it be ok?

 

[Krisken]

NGO?

 

[SpecialKO]

If investigating extremism is fear mongering, and calling certain forms of speech extremism is politically incorrect

But they're not "investigating extremism", they're going through mosque libraries, finding individual religious/political texts they argue with, rightfully or wrongfully, and then publishing this as evidence of wide-scale radicalization of American mosques.

You trying to tell me that the if I find one of Daniel Pipe's books (publisher of the Middle East Quarterly, incidentally) in my local community library that the library, as an entity, supports the unilateral bombing of Iran? They barely support reading (4 fucking pages of forms and proof of residence on top of my driver's license to get a library card).

 

[Terrik]

But they're not "investigating extremism", they're going through mosque libraries, finding individual religious/political texts they argue with, rightfully or wrongfully, and then publishing this as evidence of wide-scale radicalization of American mosques.

You trying to tell me that the if I find one of Daniel Pipe's books (publisher of the Middle East Quarterly, incidentally) in my local community library that the library, as an entity, supports the unilateral bombing of Iran? They barely support reading (4 fucking pages of forms and proof of residence on top of my driver's license to get a library card).

According to the study itself, the following was the criteria for extremism:

* Ultra-orthodox worship in which women are separated from men in the prayer hall and must enter the mosque from a separate, usually back, entrance; and are required to wear hijabs.
* Sermons that preach women are inferior to men and can be beaten for disobedience; that non-Muslims, particularly Jews, are infidels and inferior to Muslims; that jihad or support of jihad is not only a Muslim's duty but the noblest way, and suicide bombers and other so-called "martyrs" are worthy of the highest praise; and that an Islamic caliphate should one day encompass the U.S.
* Solicitation of financial support for jihad.
* Bookstores that sell books, CDs and DVDs promoting jihad and glorifying martyrdom.

Make of that what you will.

 

[SpecialKO]

Actually, if you go to the bottom of their summary where they break out the method behind what you quoted, it's all methods of dress compared to where they found materials the study authors believed to be extremist in a chi-squared distribution.

If materials available on mosque premises promoted joining a known terrorist organization, such as "mujahideen" engaged in jihad abroad, then the mosque was recorded as having promoted joining a terrorist organization.

Really? There's no talk of proportion against all materials, access to those materials, other notable works. Did they double-check to see if any of those mosques they found with the "promotional materials" also had a copy of Malcolm X's autobiography where he specifically condemns violence and laments his contributions towards promoting that frame of mind? And then did they do deep interviews with the mosque visitors to ascertain which works they agreed with?

 

[jwhouk]

Meanwhile, the AFL-CIO, AFSCME et al. have sued the state of Wisconsin in Federal court saying that the collective bargaining law violates free speech and the 14th amendment.

Okay, maybe that's a bit of a simplification of things, but we knew that it was going to happen.

 

[Cheesy1]

And Weiner limps away.

 

[Espy]

 

[Krisken]

Figures. Not big on the man but it sickens me that the double standard can continue unabated.

 

[GasBandit]

We also seem to be confusing "people who murder and terrorize using religion as a motive" with "people who murder and terrorize with mundane, secular motives who use religion as a pretext." The IRA was not a religious crusade even though there were religious differences - it saw itself as a resistance against an occupying power. McVeigh's motives were also entirely secular in nature, without even the pretense of religion. And so on.

Today's links -

Is Debbie Wasserman Shultz just delusional, or does she genuinely believe that the Obama administration has turned this economy around? Seriously! She states, “We were able to, under President Obama’s leadership, turn this economy around.”

The Republicans have already managed to turn this statement around into an ad.

Al Gore praises Mitt Romney for his position on global warming.

Barack Obama argues that the section of the War Powers Resolution that imposes the deadlinedoes not apply to our efforts in Libya.

The acting Special Inspector General for the TARP bank bailout program says that the Dodd-Frank bill may not end the concept of “too big to fail.”

Confession of a Reluctant Tea-Partier

An amendment to the Constitution has been proposed by two Senators that would allow Congress to pass laws preventing the physical desecration of the American flag. I wonder if they'll call it the Zoidberg Law.

A coalition of unions filed suit in federal court seeking to halt the reinstatement of collective-bargaining legislation in Wisconsin.

This is in the Wall Street Journal?: Does America have too many rich people?
Added at: 14:12
I don't know why my links aren't colored, but they're there...

 

[AshburnerX]

We also seem to be confusing "people who murder and terrorize using religion as a motive" with "people who murder and terrorize with mundane, secular motives who use religion as a pretext." The IRA was not a religious crusade even though there were religious differences - it saw itself as a resistance against an occupying power. McVeigh's motives were also entirely secular in nature, without even the pretense of religion. And so on.

Your leaving out the various Pro-life religious groups who bomb/burn down abortion centers, as well as harass, assault, and I believe in at least one case actually murdered doctors who perform them. That is very clearly a use of religion as a terrorism motive.

 

[GasBandit]

Your leaving out the various Pro-life religious groups who bomb/burn down abortion centers, as well as harass, assault, and I believe in at least one case actually murdered doctors who perform them. That is very clearly a use of religion as a terrorism motive.

That's a fair point on an individual basis, but it's not something that churches teach or encourage (unless you're Westboro Baptist, I suppose). It's something a maladjusted individual does.

Christianity DID have similar problems in the past to what I'm describing. The inquisition, the crusades, the burning of heretics/blasphemers. This is closer to what we're dealing with today in islamist violence.

 

[Krisken]

That's a fair point on an individual basis, but it's not something that churches teach or encourage (unless you're Westboro Baptist, I suppose). It's something a maladjusted individual does.

Christianity DID have similar problems in the past to what I'm describing. The inquisition, the crusades, the burning of heretics/blasphemers. This is closer to what we're dealing with today in islamist violence.

Hey, now you're starting to catch up. However, what you keep mucking up is that in the case of both Christianity and the Muslim faiths, extreme behavior is not mainstream. You keep saying the two are so different when that is clearly not the case.

 

[AshburnerX]

Hey, now you're starting to catch up. However, what you keep mucking up is that in the case of both Christianity and the Muslim faiths, extreme behavior is not mainstream. You keep saying the two are so different when that is clearly not the case.

It only seems like the Muslim extremists are mainstream because they are the most visible and because most people have never met one. I'd honestly compare the ones I've met to Mormons (devout, a little funny but genuinely nice) or to the Amish (no nonsense about their faith and very conservative, but honestly curious about how others live).

I mean really... what would you think of Christians if your only exposure to them was news reports of violence in Ireland, bombings of clinics, and stories about how they consume the blood and body of their savior every Sunday (while an effigy of said savior WATCHES THEM)? You'd think they were all bloodthirsty cannibals!

 

[GasBandit]

It only seems like the Muslim extremists are mainstream because they are the most visible and because most people have never met one. I'd honestly compare the ones I've met to Mormons (devout, a little funny but genuinely nice) or to the Amish (no nonsense about their faith and very conservative, but honestly curious about how others live).

I mean really... what would you think of Christians if your only exposure to them was news reports of violence in Ireland, bombings of clinics, and stories about how they consume the blood and body of their savior every Sunday (while an effigy of said savior WATCHES THEM)? You'd think they were all bloodthirsty cannibals!

Actually, if there ever is a religion that literally involves consuming the blood of a savior, I think I might have to sign up.

Links for today -

Pelosi also says that Obama doesn’t need Congressional authorization for actions in Libya.

Mitt Romney says that he is also unemployed.

Victor Davis Hanson has some thoughts on the Greek madness.

Kay Bailey Hutchison unveiled a proposal to raise the Social Security retirement age to 69 and cut cost-of-living adjustments for benefits.

Is the current Republican field … wimpy?

The American Medical Association is reconsidering its support of ObamaCare’s individual mandate.

Congressional leaders and the White House are discussing budget savings to tie to the upcoming vote on the federal debt limit … but will those cuts be phony?

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has some fightin’ words for Barack Obama over the NLRB’s complaint against Boeing.

Union goons in New Jersey have a name for Governor Chris Christie: Adolf Christie.

Another glitter incident on the campaign trail .. this time Tim Pawlenty was the victim.

 

[GasBandit]

Liberal Bloggers are "breaking up" with Obama. Their words, not mine.

There was a lot of buzz over the weekend about Texas Governor Rick Perry. The general consensus is that he would be ranked near the top of the field if he decides to enter the Republican contest.

Of the seven GOP candidates who debated in New Hampshire last week, five of them have just signed a pledge to advance an anti-abortion agenda. Who signed it: Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty and Rick Santorum. Who didn’t sign it: Mitt Romney and Herman Cain.

Presidents fail to be re-elected less because their policies aren’t working than because they have lost control of the narrative. Can this presidency still be saved?

Apparently Barack Obama did not know and did not authorize the “Fast and Furious” gunrunning program on the Mexican border.

Did you hear what President Obama said about the National Labor Relations Board's complaint against Boeing Co.? I didn't either.

Are climate scientists doctoring the data?

The wussification of America continues .. a woman in Texas has been charged with a felony of injury to a child after spanking her own kid. The judge says, "You don't spank children today.” That explains a lot, doesn't it?

 

[Espy]

The wussification of America continues .. a woman in Texas has been charged with a felony of injury to a child after spanking her own kid. The judge says, "You don't spank children today.” That explains a lot, doesn't it?

I can't see how theres a problem with getting a felony for spanking a kid. That sounds totally right.

 

[Krisken]

I don't want a President who advocated seceding from the union. That sounds awful un-American to me.

Why I find Rick Perry to be a scary prospect (compiled by Think Progress):

(1) PERRY ALLOWED THE EXECUTION OF A LIKELY INNOCENT MAN, THEN IMPEDED AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE MATTER: In 2004, Cameron Todd Willingham was executed in Huntsville, Texas after being convicted of arson and the murder of his three children. Even after significant evidence emerged showing that arson had not caused the fire (thus exonerating Willingham), Perry refused to grant a stay of execution. Five years after Willingham was executed, a report from a Texas Forensic Science Commission investigator found that the fire could not have been arson. As the commission prepared to hear testimony from the investigator in October 2009, Perry quickly fired and replaced three of its members, forcing an indefinite delay in the hearing.
(2) PERRY WANTS TO REPEAL THE 16th AND 17th AMENDMENTS, ENDING DIRECT ELECTION OF U.S. SENATORS AND THE FEDERAL INCOME TAX: In his 2010 book Fed Up!, Perry called the 16th and 17th Amendments “mistaken” and said they resulted from “a fit of populist rage.” The 16th Amendment allows the federal government to collect income taxes, which is the single biggest source of revenue, accounting for 45 percent of all receipts. The 17th Amendment took electing U.S. senators out of the hands of political insiders and allowed the American public to decide their representation instead. If Perry had his way, the federal government would be stripped of its current ability to fund highway construction projects, food inspectors, and the military, and the American public would not even be permitted to elect their own senators.
(3) PERRY PROPOSED LETTING STATES DROP OUT OF SOCIAL SECURITY AND MEDICAID: Despite the programs’ importance and popularity, Perry has argued that states like Texas should be allowed to opt out of Social Security and Medicaid. Were Perry to have his way on Social Security, “the entire system would collapse under the weight of too many Social Security beneficiaries who had not paid into the system,” notes Ian Millhiser. On Medicaid, in addition to stripping 3.6 million low-income Texans of their health care, Perry’s proposal would actually hurt, not help, the state’s budget deficit. This is because, as Igor Volsky writes, opting out of Medicaid would take “billions out of the state economy that goes on to support hospitals and other providers,” while forcing hospitals “to swallow the costs of caring for uninsured individuals who will continue to use the emergency room as their primary source of care.”
(4) TEXAS IS THE COUNTRY’S BIGGEST POLLUTER, BUT PERRY SUED THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT FOR DISAPPROVING OF THE STATE’S AIR QUALITY STANDARDS: Texas is the biggest polluter in the country, leading the nation in carbon dioxide emissions. However, when the EPA published its “disapproval” of the state’s air quality standards for falling short of the Clean Air Act’s requirements, Perry sued the federal government to challenge the ruling. Perry’s environmental record doesn’t end there. He is a global warming denier who called the 2010 BP oil spill an “act of God” while speaking at a trade association funded by BP.
(5) PERRY DESIGNATED AS “EMERGENCY LEGISLATION” A BILL REQUIRING ALL WOMEN SEEKING ABORTIONS TO HAVE SONOGRAMS FIRST: In January, Perry proposed requiring all women seeking abortions to have a sonogram at least 24 hours before the procedure. Under the bill, doctors would be required to “tell a woman the size of her fetus’ limbs and organs, even if she does not want to know.” Before a woman is permitted to have an abortion, physicians are also forced to provide an image of the fetus and make the woman listen to the sound of its heartbeat. Perry designated his proposal as “emergency legislation,” allowing the bill to be rushed through the legislature. He signed it into law last month.​

(6) PERRY GUTTED CHILDCARE SERVICES EVEN AS TEXAS CHILDHOOD POVERTY HIT 25 PERCENT: Facing a $27 billion budget deficit this year, Perry decided to gut child support services, despite a report from the Center for Public Policy Priorities that found nearly one in four Texas children lived beneath the poverty line. Instead of raising revenue like California, a state facing a similarly sized deficit, Perry scaled back more than $10 billion of child support over two years. As Think Progress’ Pat Garofalo noted, these cuts were proposed despite Texas’ possession of a $8.2 billion rainy day fund.
(7) PERRY WAS A STRONG SUPPORTER OF TEXAS’S ANTI-SODOMY LAWS: Perry was a strong proponent of Texas’s anti-sodomy law that was struck down in 2003 by the Supreme Court in Lawrence v. Texas. Calling the law “appropriate,” Perry dismissed the Court decision as the result of “nine oligarchs in robes.” Even after being struck down, Perry supported the Texas legislature’s refusal to remove the law from its books.
(8) PERRY IS A STIMULUS HYPOCRITE WHO LOUDLY CRITICIZED FEDERAL RECOVERY MONEY BUT USED IT TO BALANCE HIS STATE’S BUDGET: As the nation struggled to avoid economic collapse in 2009, Perry was a vocal critic of Congress’s recovery package, even advocating that Texas reject the money because “we can take care of ourselves.” Months later, after Perry was able to balance the state’s budget only with the aid of billions in federal stimulus dollars, Perry again repeated that he would reject federal funding, arguing that the government “spends money they don’t have.” Five months later, Perry again took advantage of federal funding to issue $2 billion in bonds for highway improvements in Texas. Even so, the state faces a $27 billion budget deficit.
(9) PERRY SAID THAT TEXAS MIGHT HAVE TO SECEDE FROM THE UNITED STATES: One hundred and fifty years ago, Texas and other southern states seceded from the Union, resulting in a bloody Civil War. 148 years later, Perry floated the idea that Texas may again have to secede because of a federal government that “continues to thumb their nose at the American people.” Perry was roundly criticized for his proposal, yet he repeated his threat the next month on Fox News, telling host Neil Cavuto, “If Washington continues to force these programs on the states, if Washington continues to disregard the tenth amendment, who knows what happens.”
(10) DESPITE HAVING THE WORST UNINSURED RATE IN THE COUNTRY, PERRY CLAIMS THAT TEXAS HAS “THE BEST HEALTH CARE IN THE COUNTRY” : On Bill Bennett’s radio show last year, Perry claimed that “Texas has the best health care in the country.” In reality, Texas has the highest rate of uninsured residents of any state. More than one in four Texans lack coverage; the national average is just 15.4 percent. As such, there are more uninsured residents in Texas than there are people in 33 states. Despite Texas’s low coverage rates, the state has some of the most restrictive Medicaid eligibility thresholds, and Perry has even proposed dropping out of the program. Texas also has an inordinately high percentage of impoverished children, yet Perry opposed expanding the successful State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).​

​

You can keep Perry, thank you.

 

[GasBandit]

It's not *me* offering him up, I'm just reporting... but actually, 2 3 and 4 sound like positives.

I can't see how theres a problem with getting a felony for spanking a kid. That sounds totally right.

I know, right? This is a great first step. Next, we declare time-outs and being grounded as violations of human rights so that we can get the UN involved.